The embodiments disclosed herein relate to a critical parameter/requirements management process and an environment associated therewith having one or more tools to implement the process for management of parameter/requirements during a product development program. It finds particular application in conjunction with end-to-end requirements management from planned development to manufacturing and production. However, it is to be appreciated that the embodiments disclosed herein are also amenable to other like applications.
Problems in current critical parameter management process models and associated tools can be grouped into four areas: a) process model and workflow, b) information technology, c) requirements management capabilities, and d) integration of requirements management with other key tools.
The process model and workflow in existing tools is either missing one or more of the key elements, have weaker implementations of one or more of the elements, or are overly complex. Most existing requirements management tools have the ability to add custom parameter/requirement attributes, but lack of any specific or simple workflow and process rules around managing object interfaces. This is a significant shortcoming.
In regard to information technology, existing requirements management tools typically require client software versions for full functionality -- web versions are highly de-featured or do not exist. Where existing tools offer web versions, limitations in the user interface (UI) and workflow concepts and designs, users must purchase client versions to perform more advanced authoring or other functions. Ongoing maintenance costs to deploy and support existing tools are therefore higher.
Typically, existing requirements management tool capabilities are optimized for a document-driven workflow most commonly used in the software development discipline (e.g., import, parse, tag and manage requirements from a Microsoft Word document). Hardware domain users require a product structure-driven workflow where the master source of structure is the product decomposition where object interface and internal requirements can be specifically identified and managed along with the ability for integration areas to manage requirements flow across two or more subsystems to achieve a system requirement. This preferred workflow for the hardware domain requires tight integration with the master source of product structure (e.g., assembly structures and bill of materials from computer-aided design systems).
Regarding integration of requirements management tools with other tools, existing tools have emphasized application interface capabilities aimed at the document-driven workflow and links to software tools rather than those required for the product structure-driven workflow. Existing tools allow hierarchical decompositions and have flexible access rights, but do not provide the necessary object classification, associated rules and web capable user interface design that enables simple, real-time interface management and views. Additionally, existing tools do not have a well-developed method for managing object reuse across multiple hardware configurations and products, nor an efficient integration with other master sources of structure.
Existing tools have not implemented a parameter/requirements classification scheme, associated rules, and interfaces to other product development tools that allow both real-time object-oriented interface management and flow-down/traceability management with a corresponding workflow/UI in a web application. Moreover, existing tools have not embedded a set of process requirements within a maturity model where both the target maturity level and status can be adjusted and viewed by parameter. Existing requirements management tools have not provided a framework for managing process rigor and generating associated in-process metrics.